Brexit bill: Theresa May refuses to back down over pledge to enshrine EU departure date in law

It comes after ministers signalled they could abandon the amendment to the EU (Withdrawal) Bill in the face of a considerable Tory rebellion

Theresa May arrives to attend the European Social Summit in Gothenburg, Sweden, on November 17, 2017

Theresa May has refused to back down over her pledge to enshrine the Brexit departure date into law despite an anticipated rebellion from Conservative backbenches.

It comes after ministers signalled on Thursday they could abandon the amendment to the EU (Withdrawal) Bill in the face of a considerable backlash from around 20 Tory MPs and the prospect of losing the vote.

The amendment – put forward by the Government last week –seeks to Britain’s exit date from the bloc on the face of the bill as 11pm on 29 March 2019.

But at a Westminster briefing on Friday a spokesperson for the Prime Minister said that while the Government was “listening” to views expressed in Parliament, Ms May believed it is important to provide “certainty” over the date of the UK’s departure.

They added: “We are clear, though, on our determination to get the best possible outcome for the UK. Key to doing that is certainty.

“What the amendment does is provide certainty over our position that we are leaving the EU on 29 March 2019. We encourage all MPs to support it.”

But the comments followed an indication from David Davis, the Brexit Secretary, that a compromise could be reached with Tory rebels over the plan announced last week.

Mr Davis said putting the date in the bill was a “good idea”, but had added: “How it’s done and what the form of it is, is being debated in the House. I’m not going to pre-empt that.

“The whole of this bill is going to be debated through the House – the whole of it – and there are parts of it that will change as it goes through.

David Lidington, the Justice Secretary, echoed Mr Davis’s comments, adding: “We will listen to ideas coming from colleagues across the House.”

It also follows the publication of a report from the influential Commons Exiting the European Union Committee, claiming the Government risks sabotaging its own negotiations by going forward with the amendment to the bill.

Chairing MP Hilary Ben warned that “flexibility” was needed in the Brexit process – especially given warnings by Brexit Secretary David Davis that negotiations would go down to the wire in an “exciting” showdown with Brussels.

“We need to maintain flexibility as the negotiations proceed, but ministers are now proposing to remove from the Bill the power to set different exit days for different purposes and replace it with a single exit day – 11pm on 29 March 2019,” Mr Benn, who is a Labour MP said.

“This would create significant difficulties if the negotiations were to continue until the 59th minute of the 11th hour, as the Secretary of State suggested to us might happen."